9:1. “For all
this I considered in my heart even to declare all this, that the righteous,
and the wise, and their works, are in the hand of God: no man knoweth either
love or hatred by all that is before them.”
All that Solomon had
considered, from the perspective of the infidel, had led him to the
conclusion that man, and everything pertaining to his brief life, are under
God’s control, and he knows not whether he is loved or hated by God; whether
he will be rich or poor. Some understand the words “knoweth either love or
hatred” to mean that man does not know what to love and what to hate, i.e.,
he lacks the wisdom to choose between good and evil; and he knows nothing of
what the future holds.
9:2. “All
things come alike to all; there is one event to the righteous, and to the
wicked; to the good and to the clean, and to the unclean; to him that
sacrificeth, and to him that sacrificeth not: as is the good, so is the
sinner; and he that sweareth, as he that feareth an oath.”
His foolish reasoning was
that death was the end of everything, and that since there was nothing
beyond death, it mattered not how a man lived: whether just or lawless,
moral or immoral, religious or irreligious, liar or truthful, it made no
difference after he had breathed his last breath. His conduct had no
eternal consequences.
9:3. “This is
an evil among all things that are done under the sun, that there is one
event unto all: yea, also the heart of the sons of men is full of evil, and
madness is in their heart while they live, and after that they go to the
dead.”
Even from his wrong
perspective he recognized the injustice of all this, and declared it to be
evil. He recognized too that men were inherently full of evil, with the
result that their lives were characterized by folly and wickedness which
continued until death; but he failed to understand that death wasn’t the end
of everything, that eternal consequences attend man’s conduct, there being
everlasting bliss in heaven for the repentant believer, and never ending
torment in the lake of fire for the unbeliever.
9:4. “For to
him that is joined to all the living there is hope: for a living dog is
better than a dead lion.”
His philosophy might be
summed up in the old adage that while there’s life there’s hope; hope, that
is, of a change for the better in his circumstances; but for the infidel who
believes that death is the end of everything, there is no hope beyond the
grave, for his whole outlook is earthbound.
9:5. “For the
living know that they shall die: but the dead know not any thing, neither
have they any more a reward; for the memory of them is forgotten.”
What paltry consolation
comes with the knowledge that all must die, and the erroneous belief that
there is nothing beyond death!
And how terribly wrong is
the idea that “the dead know not any thing”! The awful truth is that death
endows the unbeliever with knowledge, which possessed on earth, would have
brought immediate repentance and salvation, but acquired after death, brings
only the bitterness of eternal regret, and enhanced awareness of eternal
torment.
The memory of the dead
retained by the living - their fleeting and only earthly reward - is quickly
forgotten by those still on earth, but their own memory of despised and
rejected opportunity on earth to repent and be saved, will torment them for
ever.
9:6. “Also
their love, and their hatred, and their envy, is now perished; neither have
they any more portion for ever in any thing that is done under the sun.”
The human emotions: love,
hatred, envy ... that marked their lives on earth, are ended for ever, as is
also their participation in the activities of earthly life. Death has
carried them away from all those things into a realm of eternal bliss or
torment, depending on whether the had confessed themselves sinners, and
trusted in the Lord Jesus Christ as Savior, while they were on earth.
9:7. “Go thy
way, eat thy bread with joy, and drink thy wine with a merry heart; for God
now accepteth thy works.”
It is to be remembered
that this is the expressed philosophy of an unconverted man, an infidel who
acknowledges God’s existence, but who knows Him not as Savior. God’s
acceptance of man’s “works” has to be understood in its proper context:
having appointed the order for human life on earth, He desires man to enjoy
life according to that same order, i.e., He wants man to enjoy his food and
drink and toil, but as a believer. He does not approve of the sinful
lifestyles of the unconverted who engage in these activities, often to
excess, but who refuse to acknowledge God as the Giver.
9:8. “Let thy
garments be always white; and let thy head lack no ointment.”
Since white is the color
of purity, and since garments are to the body what habits are to the life,
the truth being declared here is that the natural man, though an infidel,
still realizes the superiority of virtue over vice. And since the head is
the seat of the intellect, the head anointed with fragrant ointment or oil
is the symbolic announcement of the fact that even the natural man
understands that a pure mind is to be preferred to an impure.
9:9. “Live
joyfully with the wife whom thou lovest all the days of the life of thy
vanity, which he hath given thee under the sun, all the days of thy vanity:
for that is thy portion in this life, and in thy labor which thou takest
under the sun.”
God has given woman to man
to be his complement, and He has so created them that in monogamous marriage
they can abide together in a lifelong relationship of love that is unique to
the state of marriage. This has been ordained by God, just as has the need
for man to toil; but it is to be noted that marriage has been established
only for man’s life “under the sun,” i.e., his life here on earth. It does
not extend into the eternal state, as it is written, “... in the
resurrection they neither marry, nor are given in marriage,” Matthew 22:30.
9:10.
“Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no
work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou
goest.”
This admonition is the
basis for the adage, “What is worth doing, is worth doing well.” God would
have him perform to the best of his ability the work He has given man to do,
a possible reason being that all which God does He has done perfectly, and
since He has made man in His own image, He would have that image reflected
in everything man does, but obviously only to the extent that is humanly
possible in view of man’s imperfect fallen state.
A further reason is that
man’s departure to the grave ends all his opportunity to do anything, for it
is only in his earthly body that he can work, plan, know, and apply his
knowledge. Beyond the grave the unconverted man will have perfect
knowledge, but sadly not the power to use it. It is here on earth that man
needs the wisdom to make the right use of knowledge.
9:11. “I
returned, and saw under the sun, that the race is not to the swift, nor the
battle to the strong, neither yet bread to the wise, nor yet riches to men
of understanding, nor yet favor to men of skill; but time and chance
happeneth to them all.”
“I returned” is better
translated “Again I observed, etc.” He noted that the race isn’t always won
by the swiftest runner, nor the battle by the strongest fighter; neither
does the wise man always have enough to eat, nor does the intelligent or
shrewd man always become rich; nor does the man of skill, i.e., the
educated, the scholar, the expert, always acquire glory. What the infidel
would call the caprice of fate plays a large part in men’s lives, i.e.,
being in the right place at the right time. The man of faith however, knows
that it is God who arranges circumstances to accomplish His will: nothing
happens merely by chance, as His Word assures us, not even a sparrow falls
to earth apart from His permissive or directive will.
9:12. “For man
also knoweth not his time: as the fishes that are take in an evil net, and
as the birds that are caught in the snare; so are the sons of men snared in
an evil time, when it falleth suddenly upon them.”
As fish know not the
moment when they may be caught in the fisherman’s net, nor birds the moment
when they will be trapped in a snare, neither does man know the time of his
death, that time being evil indeed for the unbeliever, for it sweeps him
from time into eternal torment.
9:13. “This
wisdom have I seen also under the sun, and it seemed great unto me.”
The things described in
the preceding verse are examples of wisdom which had made a deep impression
on Solomon.
9:14. “There
was a little city, and few men within it; and there came a great king
against it, and besieged it, and built great bulwarks against it:”
9:15. “Now
there was found in it a poor wise man, and he by his wisdom delivered the
city; yet no man remembered that same poor man.”
No spiritual mind will
have difficulty seeing in these two verses a parabolic picture of Christ’s
redemption of the earth and the men upon it. The little city is earth,
little among the planets; the few men were Adam and Eve; the great opposing
king is Satan. The poor wise man is Christ who came down to earth and
became poor that we through His poverty might be made rich, and by His
wisdom which seemed folly to men, delivered the earth and the men upon it by
His vicarious death and glorious resurrection. And as it was in the
parable, so is it in reality: no man remembers that same “poor man.” A
hedonistic world plunges recklessly towards destruction, neither knowing nor
caring that the Christ Who has given His life to ransom men’s souls, is
about to return as King of kings, and Lord of lords, to execute judgment,
and banish every unbeliever into hell.
9:16. “Then
said I, Wisdom is better than strength: nevertheless the poor man’s wisdom
is despised, and his words are not heard.”
It is very doubtful
whether Solomon understood the deeper spiritual significance of what he
wrote, but every Spirit-taught believer recognizes that the wisdom which
leads a man to trust Christ as his Savior, is superior to any power on
earth. But as it was in that distant past day, so is it still, “the poor
man’s wisdom is despised, and his words are not heard.”
9:17. “The
words of wise men are heard in quiet more than the cry of him that ruleth
among fools.”
This is also translated,
“The words of the wise heard in quiet are better than the shouting of a
ruler among fools,” or “The quiet words of the wise are better heeded than
the shout of a ruler of fools.”
Shouting and blustering
add nothing to what is being said, but on the contrary, rouse suspicion
relative to the truth of the speaker’s statement.
9:18. “Wisdom
is better than weapons of war: but one sinner destroyeth much good.”
Whatever may be achieved
by war is seldom worth the cost. Where ever possible, it is infinitely
better to resolve a dispute by wise discussion, war being a last resort.
“... sinner” is more
accurately translated “error, mistake, slip,” and who can measure the loss
that has sometimes resulted from just one small mistake? Consider, for
example, the misery brought into the world by Adam’s one mistake.